Toshiba R700 / R705 /R630 Owners Thread

Hi,

I thought we should create a new thread since the old one was pre-release and now there are several owners here.

Toshiba Portege (US Model)
Toshiba Tecra (Canada Model)
R700
R705 (Best Buy Model)

A review from LaptopMag
Toshiba Portege R700 - A Review of the Toshiba Portege R700

Another review from TrustedReviews
Toshiba Portege R700 review - Laptop reviews - TrustedReviews

I might add some more general info here later.

 

I just got mine the other day and and am very happy with it.

I did a double take when I was handed the box. This thing is light.

The body of the notebook is a nice black brushed sort of look that does a good gob of not showing fingers and gives it a nice sophisticated look.

I think the keyboard is great. The keys are feel like an extremely hard plastic with an action that's very similar to the apple aluminum keyboard. I almost like the Toshiba's action better. The apple springs back a little more.

The trackpad is very good and multi-touch works as intended. I tweaked the settings a little for the PalmCheck, moving it one to the right. I also added one more Tap Zone for middle click.
There are tons of other settings in the Synaptics that I haven't played with yet.
The left and right trackpad buttons are a little stiff but still better than a lot of others I've tried. Most users will probably have a mouse for prolonged use so no biggie.

The screen is just about what I thought it would be. It's not a Macbook pro or Sony Z but the machine also doesn't cost what those cost.

I did some tweaking and am now much happier with it.
If you want to try my settings here's what I did.
Under Intel HD Graphics icon go to Graphics Properties>Display>Color Enhancement

Brightness: 0
Contrast: 49
Gamma: 0.9
Hue: 0
Saturation: 5

The contrast and gamma settings get the monitor as close as I could get to the 2.0 sweet spot and showing good black and white.
The saturation is technically above accurate I'm sure but it does look better without going overboard. You can play around with saturation but I found 4-5 best.

The audio was pretty awful at first. I could tell that an equalizer was needed just to make things livable. I went into Realtek HD Audio Manager and under the Sound Effects tab, selected Party and then backed down the top two frequencies on notch each. This is a big improvement but could be tweaked further.

I'm using tweaked windows power settings instead of the eco utility.
In the bios I found the settings that the eco utility is changing and tweaked them myself. It now runs full time in a user setting eco mode.
If anyone wants to know more about where this is or what my settings are, just ask.

For Battery it looks like I'm going to be getting at least 4 hours with regular use.
I think 5 hours is doable with just office tasks and screen brightness a little lower.

Overall I'm very happy with it no complaints at all.

 

I'm going to repost this from the longer thread to see whether I can get any responses here. The Desktop Hardware (monitor) forum seems to have little activity.

Can anyone recommend an external monitor for use with the r700? At work I have a 27" iMac (I mostly run Windows on it) and I love being able to view 2 documents at once. I don't know anything about the 16:9 vs. 16:10 debate or other resolutions (720, 1080, 1200) but I do know that I'd like something 25" or bigger. I was thinking about the Asus VE27q b/c it doesn't have the annoying speaker grille that some of the other Asus models does. I don't want to spend more than $350.

Oh, and as I've said before, I'm not a gamer.

Any thoughts on this, based on your knowledge of the r700s? With its 16:9 ratio, will I need a 16:9 monitor (as opposed to 16:10) to be able to get my screen to expand all the way to the sides of the monitor?

 

Very enlightening write-up meboy...thanks.

 

I use an Asus 25" 1920x1200 monitor (vw266 i think) and it's great. You have to look around a bit for the 1200 line monitors (most are 1920x1080 nowadays) but it's worth holding out for the additional vertical resolution.

 

Hey everyone. I'm back from my first roadtrip with my r700. It has served me extremely well. But I have to ask again (and I hate to do so on the first page of this thread) -- am I the only person who hears a high-pitched whine in the fan? Like, dog-whistle high. It's just the right pitch so that, even if it's really quiet, it's really annoying. If this is only me, then I will definitely trade it in for a new one, because otherwise this computer is amazing.

 

I guess I will add my post to the thread. I have an R700-1320 with which I am very pleased. It was decent out of the box, but is even nicer with some faster Ram and an SSD.
To answer outnumbered's question, I do not hear a high pitched whine from the fan on my unit, but I certainly did on my older Lenovo unit. I think it's a hit and miss type of thing...

 

I've read a number of posts in different forums and there seems to be a very different response from various folks on the fan sound. Here's my input.

My fan makes a 'fan noise' but not anything that is high pitched or irritating. When I first turned the R700 on I heard the fan and thought 'wow...I hear the fan'. Then I had the R700 on at the same time as my older Satellite R25-S3513 and I realized that the older unit made more noise and that had never been an issue. Just like the older unit the R700 fan noise has now drifted into the background and is a non-issue. With all of that said there may be some units with a high pitched squeal and they should be fixed or returned.

On a separate sound issue my R700 has an SSD so I have not had any HDD sound issues that others have reported.

 

Oscar, thanks so much for responding. I've been looking at the model that you have, b/c with rebates it's available for about $240 and it doesn't have the silly flowery speaker grille that some Asus models do.

Interestingly, your VW266H has a 16:10 ratio and 1920x1200 resolution, whereas the more expensive VE27Q has a 16:9 ratio and 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Is it your opinion that 16:10 and 1920x1200 are preferable to 16:9 and 1920x1080 even for a computer such as the Portege r700, which (I think) has a 16:9 ratio on its screen? If so, I would probably go with the model that you have.

 

Can't say I have that on my R705, though my XPS 16 has it from time to time...

 

My fan story is the same as Nelson1's

It makes a fan noise but it's only noticeable when playing videos or some other more demanding task. Otherwise it's silent.
When I can hear it there is no high pitched noise and it's about the same noise level as my old larger 15.4".

The fan will operate differently depending on your settings though so you may want to tell us what setting you're using in eco mode.
If not using eco mode we might want to go into the bios to check what settings yours is running. There is a always on 100% setting in there.

 

Yes I like it better. You get that much more vertical real estate.
The main reason for 1080 is that HD displays are defined to be 1920x1080 therefore so many of those panels are produced that it is economical to build displays using such a panel. But if it is not lower priced then I see no benefit there.
For code development, or web surfing, or even checking email... more pixels means more info on the screen.

As far as matching it to the built-in panel. There is no reason they have to match. If you want both on, just extend your display, making sure the primary is the external monitor, and you can have both, each will be at its native resolution.

 

Well, I did a little looking around and thinking and listening closely -- I think the excruciatingly high (albeit very quiet) high-pitched sound is coming from my SSD. (There is still a kind of whistle to the fan, but this may be what everyone considers "normal" fan sounds, so I'm going to ignore it for now.) This sound is like the really tiny drill they use to detail your teeth when you get fillings. If I listen really closely, it seems to modulate in a way that sounds like data being read and written. I'm going to break it out and attach it to another computer using an enclosure. I'll let you know what I discover.

 

So how did you change the eco mode settings in the BIOS?

 

Okay, I seem to have figured out my high-pitched problem. It appears to have to do with power management when the processor is idling (which is a normal thing to want to do). I jumped through some hoops described in this thread, where people were reporting the same problem with the Sony VAIO.

The solution described by lelissam in post #15 fixed the sound immediately. However, as a later poster pointed out, this would cause my computer to throttle when idle, causing the fan to kick in full-speed and kill my battery life. So then, given that this is apparently a hardware issue, do you guys think this qualifies me to call up Newegg and exchange it for a new one?

 

You should exchange it, outnumbered.

Currently, if you buy r700, depending on luck you may get this high-pitched fan issue or the freezing issue. I am still fence-sitting to buy it due to these two issues.

 

Currently, if you buy anything depending on your luck something may be wrong with it.
That's about the percentages were dealing with.

Neither of those "issues" have even been confirmed to be a Toshiba "issue".
Lets stop fear mongering for now until things get a little more conclusive.

 

When powering on the machine hold the Esc. key until you hear beeping.
Then when you get the F2/F8 option hold down the F2 key.

Once in the Bios go to the PowerManagement section.
Then at the bottom of that page BIOS Power Management.
Under Battery Save Mode you'll have three main settings Full Power, (what mine was on by default) Low Power and User Setting.

Switch to User Setting and then you can hover over each to see more info in the right on what they do.

I have mine at these settings:

Battery Save Mode: User Setting
Processing Speed: Low (Sets the multiplier as low as x5 and ramps up as needed)
CPU Sleep Mode: Enabled
LCD Brightness: Super Bright (I then control this with Win Power Management Settings for plugged in and on battery)
Cooling Method: Performance (I tried each one of these and went to Win. to see what they did. Performance seemed like the best all around.)

While you're in the Bios you may also want to check out these.

- My Boot Order by default set the HDD first instead of the DVD Drive.
- Sleep and Charge is disabled by default.
- In Advanced>System Config. you can disable the WebCam if you're never going to use it.

 

sweet. Thanks...

but can you change what defaults for eco mode?

 

Apparently not. Only the User Setting option is custom.

 

I own an Asian R700 (singapore). i7, 4GB ram, 5400rpm 500GB hard drive.

Bought a 64GB SSD (Cosair 64GBG2D). Now the only moving thing in this laptop is the fan.. This thing is fast!

Recorded the win7 bootup time for a friend, here it is:
YouTube - Toshiba R700 with 64GB SSD

 

Does anyone have this hooked up to a 30" monitor at 2560 x 1600 resolution?

Thanks

 

Ok, so here's my first post since I got my R700-1321. Overall I'm very pleased with the system. It's a very elegant and quality laptop. I'm very impressed with how light-weight it is. Especially when used plugged in (minus battery) it is literally in the iPad category. It can be held like a book when reading ebooks or what not. And it packs a lot of power in a very small package. It's like a Xeon powered workstation of only a few years back.

The battery life has so far been quite acceptable at about 5 hours. But may be with an OS reintsall and some tweaking I could get more out of it.

The sound requires some tweaking to get it to an acceptable fidelity level. Still I think I need a dedicated card to experience full rich sound. But then with the extra bulge this system wouldn't be as sleek and beautiful.

For my needs the graphics is adequate. However I did notice it dropping a few frames here and there with 1080p youtube videos. This was after I had the latest Flash player installed and nothing else hogging resources. Hopefully later versions of intel driver would address the performance issue.

I'm still waiting for my 640 gigs/ 7200rpm HD to arrive, so I can set this system up exactly the way I want it. Meaning fresh install of Win 7/XP/linux.
BTW, have you guys had any luck installing and activating the windows XP license that comes with this?


Now here some pictures I took along the way that may help you guys out:


This is how it looks like outdoors under the shade with full brightness on:



This is how it looks like under direct afternoon sun:



Now here are some screenshots of the bios (simply hold F2 at bootup). unlike the Vaio Z and some others, this system is not dumbed down, and is pretty customizable at bios level:











And here's the screen you should get when you first power up your system. for me the full recovery process took about one hour:



Alright that's it for now. I will update as I do a full reinstall later this week. That is if incompetent neweggg cooperates. =)

 

Hi!

Can I suggest we include the R630 in this thread? It's not discussed anywhere on forum and is essentially the same laptop. Technically it's a Satellite but it has the same chassis and has similar specs. The key differences are trackpad with no fingerprint reader and no ability to connect to a docking station.

Hands on review:
Hands on: Toshiba Satellite R630 review | News | TechRadar UK

Specs:
Satellite R630-135 - Product Specifications - Toshiba

Got mine two days ago and I'm quite happy with the quality and sturdiness. First thing I did was to remove the stickers, prefer the simpler look. My fan doesn't have the high pitch sound The only defect I can point right now is it can get really hot when putting the CPU through high loads.

Can anyone recommend a good sleeve for it?

 

These look nice, but it's such a shame they haven't released the reflective screen version in the UK. Am considering getting someone to bring one back from the States. Can't be doing with those ugly matte screens again.

 

If you're referring to the sound I've been complaining about, I've determined that it's not the fan. Yes, the fan sings a little when it's on full-throttle, but it's not nearly as aggravating as the sound I'm getting from the CPU. It is a widely discussed issue called "CPU whine" and the blame is placed squarely on Intel. I'm exchanging mine for a new one, and I'll report back when it's all over with. I'm kind of annoyed, but doing my best to stay optimistic.

 

You are stark raving mad.

 

That seems appropriate. Until I spent some time on notebookreview.com, I was unaware of the different makes and models available internationally (i.e. non-US) for all manufacturers. Looking at the specs for the R630, it looks similar to a R705, but with a i5 processor and a matte screen.

I say the more contributors the better...

 

I'll have to second the lunacy of preferring (Is that really what you meant?) the Glossy screen over Matte.

 

dmcm:

I'll see if I can get the title changed to include the R630.

Regarding your sleeve question.

The incase 13" Macbook Pro cases fit perfectly.

 

I really appreciated your post with all the BIOS photos. It helped answer an unanswered question that I posted not long ago. Looks like network booting is possible with your particular model.

I definitely want the i5-520M. The VT-x/d options seems interesting in the BIOS. I am planning on running virtual OSs and VHD.

 

Despite what you believe to be lunacy, I would side with the glossy screen side of the debate. Overhead lighting seems to diffuse across and obfuscate the entire matte screen, and not just where the reflection comes back at you on glossy coatings; I like the contrast boost; and the matte coating seems to give the faintest tinge of speckling to the image, no matter the quality of the coating. I had a Dell with a matte screen that was about as speckled as that on a resistive Wacom tablet PC. Coming to my R705, it feels like night and day to work on a very clear screen such as this. There's certainly better, but I haven't used anything else this good as of yet.

 

I agree as well. Matte screens have benefits, but they appear duller to me. The number one reason I hear for preferring matte over glossy is being unable to see the screen in direct sunlight. To be honest, I rarely use my laptop outside and when I do, it usually is in the shade.

Now I understand others are passionate about matte screens and there are other reasons to prefer matte over glossy, but we all have our preferences. I am glad that Toshiba's offers both.

 

Yup. those free advertisements/adware/bloatware has got to go. Once i'm certain with mine then I will remove them all. Then add these quick-release feet to help with the ventilation and cooling.

You certainly welcome! I had these similar questions a while back but no one on this forum was of any help. so i figured these pics might come in handy for a person who had similar questions.

btw, i have yet to play around with the virtualization settings to figure out what is the optimum setting for my vmware/virtualbox. feel free to share your findings.

 

Someone earlier asked about a case for the R700/705, I recently picked up the CaseCrown 13.3 inch case for Macbooks. It slides right in perfectly for a good fit and the interior is lined with memory foam for some cushion and protection. Two extra features put this case over the top for me: the front pocket lets you stow away the power adapter, which is luckily pretty small on the R705; and the case comes with handles! That's probably my favorite part, giving me the option of tossing my laptop (+case) into my backpack, or taking the laptop/case solo. I've also added a USB hub, wireless mouse, and laptop cooler to my R705 arsenal, but the case is definitely my fave.

 

I'm planning on getting the 9-cell battery for this very purpose. Well, that and the added hours of battery life.

 

don't forget that the 9-cell battery will only raise the back of the laptop just a little. while the suction fan is located in the front area. I don't think that will make much of a difference in cooling the system. but may be then you can attach a usb fan for cooling you both.

 

I just bought a Tucano Workout 13, for macbook pro 13 from futureshop for 49

 

I would also like to know if someone has used this on a high resolution [2560*1600] monitor????

I work with a lot of very large/complex models and would like to use a high res screen for this... 1920*1200 is OK but once you start zooming out etc you could alway use the extra pixels!

Kind regards,
Micke

 

Thanks!

My model is actually the R630-112 (Portuguese), very similar to the R630-135 bt my screen is glossy. My previous screen was matte, a Powerbook G4, and I do prefer matte. Reflections can be really annoying on this one. Just my opinion though.

Thanks for the sleeve recommendations!

 

I have the same case and it is great. A very good option for the R705/700.

 

Several people have mentioned removing the bloatware from their R705/R700s. Can someone post their list of removed software from the factory Win7 build? I have a R700-1311 so would like to see the list for that but a list for the R705 would be interesting as well.

Also, does anyone know the differences, if any, in factory build software that is included in the consumer (R705) versus business (R700) versions?

 

Hi all - I've noticed an odd issue with the display of my R705 and wonder if anyone else has experienced the same thing. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, the display will suddenly become dimmer for several seconds, before returning to its prior brightness. What's weird is that this is not Windows' display dimming at work - I know what that looks like and this looks different. When this happens, the display doesn't just get dimmer, it becomes very washed out in appearance. The colors take on a weird cast.

When this happens, the brightness setting has NOT been changed. Even if I turn up the brightness to the highest level, the display will still look dimmer than normal and the colors washed out - until several seconds later when all goes back to normal.

The R705 doesn't, AFAIK, have an ambient light sensor that adjusts the display brightness dynamically, and in any case this seems to happen even when the ambient light is constant. It seems to only happen on battery power. (I have eco mode disabled.) It doesn't happen all that often - maybe once or twice in the three to five hours that the battery lasts on a charge.

Any thoughts?

 

Oddly, I am experiencing the exact same issue described by freemanzhu, but with my Dell Vostro 3400, which has Intel video.

I am guessing it might be a problem with Intel video driver. I want to emphasize again that the problem is exactly the same as freemanzhu is reporting for r700.

 

Here's a MY early list of programs/utilities that have to go:

- All those silly games
- MS Office 2010 trial
- Google toolbar for IE
- Skype
- Quickbook
- Norton internet security trial
- Toshiba Service Station
- Toshiba ReelTime
- Toshiba Media Controller
- Toshiba Laptop Checkup
- Toshiba ConfigFree Utility
- Toshiba Bulletin Board
- Intel Rapid Storage Technology
- Intel AMT Software for Windows
- VirtualPC

 

Based upon Jamshil's BIOS photos, it appears the R700-1321 does not support booting from the expresscard.

Can anyone with BIOS knowledge confirm this?


If so, I hope Toshiba changes this in a future BIOS update. I was thinking of getting an expresscard ssd to boot from, rather than swapping out the HD to get an affordable performance boost.

 

Jamshil...thanks for the outdoor photos.

How would you characterize the outdoor visibility from an extended usability perspective?

The photos themselves appear to show a screen which might require a fair bit of squinting to read properly...especially in full sunlight.

...looking forward to pixelqi going mainstream...

 

For the Intel HD Graphics, do you have the driver Dell originally installed or did you download drivers from Intel's website?

 

I downloaded updated drivers from Dell's website, not from Intel's website.

 

SteveDuck, the performance on expresscard SSDs have been awful so far. look em up on amazon/newegg and you'll see. This may be a viable option in the future.

as for screen visibility; i had it with me on the beach this past weekend and the visibility was just fine at the maximum brightness. it is actually much brighter than it appears on that picture. I was more concerned about sand, vapor and seagulls hurting my baby. lol